Sean Payton Puts 'Right Side' of Broncos' O-Line on Blast
Going down the stretch, it's a guarantee that any of the Denver Broncos' weak points will be attacked with increasing vigor by forthcoming opponents. The game tape provided by the Houston Texans may have been damaging to the Broncos, as opposing coaches will be scrutinizing it to design game plans to attack quarterback Russell Wilson.
Against the Texans, the Broncos left many big plays out on the field, and that's bound to worry head coach Sean Payton. On Monday, Payton didn't dance around or spare anyone's feelings, including his signal-caller
"It’s not good enough," Payton said. "Obviously, it’s frustrating. It’s a combination of a handful of things—protection, guys open and us not making a play. I felt like the yardage and the distances were what we wanted. We have to be better in that area. Our third down plan has to be cleaner. It wasn’t a game where so many of them were third-and-long.”
Such is the nature of playing the quarterback position; taking hefty criticism on the chin goes with the territory, but not all the blame resides on Wilson's shoulders. Over recent weeks, the offensive line's improved level of execution helped facilitate a conservative but effective game plan executed by Wilson.
That largely came undone on Sunday when the Texans attacked the right side of the Broncos; O-line and turned right tackle Mike McGlinchey into a turnstile far too often. Payton's much more direct and even blatantly critical post-game, more than he'd been. Payton's observations, in context, are entirely understandable.
The Broncos head coach got straight to the point when he pinpointed the right side of the blocking unit's repeated failures to keep pass rushers away from Wilson. McGlinchey struggled, but so did right guard Quinn Meinerz, who's been dominant all season long, but took a step back in Week 13 with four QB pressures allowed.
"There's push from the right side," Payton said on Monday. "We've gotta be able to stop that."
For his part, McGlinchey put the onus on the collective failures of the offense rather than his own shortcomings, but with another big road game looming large, undoubtedly things need remedied rather quickly.
"It was kind of a collective effort of all 11 of us on the offensive side of the ball needing to be better," McGlinchey said via the team website. "We're going to look at the film. We're going to look at this film. We're going to learn and see all the missed [opportunities] that we had and see what we're truly capable of. I don't think we've even come close to touching that yet. We've got to clean it up fast, because we've got a run to make."
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